Miles Tails Prower: A Sudden Duty
by Grant Crose
Summary: After remembering the most painful event of his past, a 40-year-old Tails is asked for help by an unexpected visitor.
1. Chapter 1: Reminiscence

It was a bright morning, where Tails was getting ready to get to work on the Tornado, he was upgrading it to make it better for battle. He was sitting on his bed looking at the window so he could feel the sun's heat passing through it waking him up, it was his favorite moment of the day. After that, he put on his shoes and his glasses, then he stood up, he yawned and stretched his arms. He walked towards a little table where he had a laptop which was connected wirelessly to a big sensor hidden in the jungle that Tails installed to detect possible menaces, the laptop's screen was displaying a red light on the island's map, which meant there was something wrong, then Tails talked to himself. "It's been ten years since the last alarm, what could it be?" Tails left his cabin to go and find out what happened.

 _The laser beams could barely be seen through the intensity of the rainstorm, the sound of the raindrops poking the robots' metallic surface and the screams of courage and sacrifice couldn't escape from Tails' ears, he saw Sonic battling with a gigantic robot using a Sonic Spin, the blue hedgehog rapidly passed from being a blue and blurry image to a static red mass laying on the ground after a laser beam hit him, then more and more laser beams started to come out from everywhere, Tails was watching all of his friends suffering and dying on the jungle while he was flying with the Tornado to secure the air space. Tails hesitated for a while about throwing the sonic bombs from the plane to stop the robots, he finally decided to do it so the village wouldn't be attacked and he pressed a red button to open a small gate below the plane so the bombs could fall and explode in the ground, the robots fell down, so Tails friends, and since that day, he hadn't been the same._

Tails was walking on the beach heading for the jungle to reach for the sensor, which was buried there. By hearing the alarm's noise he inevitably started to remember the day when he lost everything, then he focused his mind on what he was thinking before.

The jungle's big palms and the great blue sky comforted Tails' mind until he noticed that something was moving behind the foliage. "Hello?" Tails stopped walking and stood still waiting for an answer, then a person with a gray robe revealed himself.

"It's you! I found you, I finally found you!" The stranger said with an old voice, but it was weirdly familiar to Tails.

"Who are you?" Tails was looking at him suspiciously.

"I'm looking for your help, you are the only one who can help us, please, come with me." The old man approached Tails.

"You have not answered my question." Tails recoiled a little.

The stranger took off his cap to reveal his face, he was an old yellow fox, with a grey beard. "My name is Miles Prower."


	2. Chapter 2: Confidence

Both were looking at each other in a strange manner. "What the heck? Are you, like, from…" Tails was interrupted by the stranger.

"The future, and it's not a good one, that's why I need your help."

Tails looked at him with mistrust. "Prove it."

Future Tails sighed. "Forthy years ago, well, ten for you, we lost everything we had in our lives, our friends, our family, they were massacred by G.U.N.'s robots, Sonic, Amy, Knucles, they were gone, we acted too late, and now we have nothing."

Tails couldn't believe it, that description fitted just too well with his memories and emotions, so he trusted the old man. A lot of questions came up in his mind. "Did you say G.U.N.? Why would they attack us?"

"The G.U.N. you know today is not the same one that attacked you."

Tails was very confused. "Do you mean that the G.U.N's robots that attacked us were from your time?"

"Correct, they were looking for a powerful mineral that would've let them to create mass destruction weapons to control the entire planet, even to dominate new worlds, that mineral is hidden in the depths of this island."

Tails couldn't stop asking questions "And, why didn't they search for it on your time?"

"The mineral has a life cycle, it didn't make it to our time, they managed to track down the nearest formation through a time machine, so they came for it to your time."

Tails was very surprised with those new answers for the things he thought would never be resolved. "Well, that makes sense, I guess, but why do you need me? I mean we are the same person."

"I am old, it's just that, my brain, my heart, my entire body is not at is full potential as it was a long time ago, I tried to stop G.U.N. in my time but, I realized that the only one who can help me is you, a…more fresh version of the greatest mind that ever existed"

Tails grinned. "Oh so I will become a smug in the future?"

Future Tails laughed a little. "We both know we've never been modest to ourselves."

Tails started to feel complete confidence on his older self. "Allright then, if we are going to work together, what should I call you?"

"You can call me Miles, in my time Im more accustomed to that name, and I will call you Tails, do you agree?

Tails nodded. "Okay, Miles, so...what do you want me to do?

Miles began to explain. "I need you to build an extractor to obtain the mineral from the caves, then you will have to build a protection capsule to secure the mineral so only me and you can get access to it, it will protect the mineral from G.U.N. in my time, and, well, in yours also."

Tails' heart started to beat faster after he heard that sentence, by the fear that his recalls triggered. "What? Do you mean they are coming?."

Miles nodded. "Yes, that's why we need to hurry up, or our future will drown in chaos."


	3. Chapter 3: Acceptance

Tails got even more nervous. "But that will be a lot of work and we are only two! And with these guys coming I doubt we can make it in time!"

Miles tried to calm Tails down. "When did I say it was just us?

"Wait, you got more help?" Suddenly, Tails started to feel better.

Miles nodded. "Yes, they live near to the village, I have already talked to them about this situation."

Tails wondered who Miles was talking about. "Who are they? The village is the only populated area."

"No, these people live in caves, they want to stay away from the others."

Tails tried to figure out who they could be. "They are…savages?"

Miles corrected Tails' supposition. "Oh no, no, they are just like me and you, it's only that their culture is different from ours, they are friendly and very smart, they showed a lot of interest on helping us, it's a community of cheetahs, we need to get there to start working, follow me."

They began their way to the community, following a rocky road hidden under the jungle's foliage, for Tails, it seemed that Miles knew the path just very well. "Uhm, for how much time have you been here, may I ask?"

Miles kept walking, but he answered Tails' question. "One month, first I needed to sympathize with the cheetahs and convince them to help us, then I activated your alarm."

"And the time machine? Where is it?"

"There is no time machine."

Tails got very confused. "So…how did you manage to…"

Tails was interrupted by Miles' action, he raised up his left arm so his robes sleeve could fall off, to show a hexagonal-shaped watch wrapped around his wrist. "The future is way more advanced than you think."

Tails was fascinated after his doubt was solved, but there was still something he wanted to ask. "And if we save them?"

Miles stopped walking, still looking at the front. "Save who?"

"Our friends, we can go to when they were killed and advice them!"

Miles turned around and gazed directly at Tails' eyes. "Some things can't be changed at all, one of them is death, believe me, I tried, but, time-traveling is more complicated than everyone thinks, they are gone, they are behind, but the future lives that we are going to save are ahead, that's what really matters, keep walking, the sun is already hiding.

Tails got very disappointed by Miles' explanation, but he tried to forget all the matter, he looked at the early moon while he was walking, then the stars began to appear, the crickets' singing was relaxing his conscience, he didn't even notice when the night fully arrived, his mind was so calm that he realized, after a few minutes, that it was time to let go, and keep moving forward.

After an hour, they arrived at the community's entrance, which was basically just two torches in front of a big rock. Miles spoke after remaining silent for almost all of their journey. "Is here."


	4. Chapter 4: Amenity

Miles knocked the big rock three times. "It's me, Miles, I brought our guest!" The rock was moved from the inside, so Tails and Miles entered by walking between the two guards who were securing the entrance. The path was a long staircase inside of a big and dark tunnel, illuminated by tiny torches at the sides, each stair was decorated with white rocks and a blue gem in the middle.

After passing all the stairs, the community was visible. Tails glanced at the cheetahs doing diverse activities, like cooking the dinner, teaching the youngest members how to develop various types of abilities, and some kids playing with a ball made of plants. The cave's illumination came from three big torches distributed inside the cave.

The community's leader, a female cheetah, who was wearing a brown tube top and a loincloth of the same color, like all of the community's women, saw them from her class and she interrupted her teachings to meet with Tails. "Our guest is here! That's all for today my students you can leave now." The young cheetahs yelled with happiness and left the class running, then she approached to where Tails and Miles were standing. "Welcome! My name is Serena, we are very thankful with you for helping us with this." They both shook hands. "Oh but you must be tired, and hungry! Please let me show you where you can rest, so you can be ready for dinner."

Tails glanced at Miles with doubt, Miles just nodded. While Serena was guiding him, Tails tried to be friendly. "Nice cave, I mean, I never noticed your…existence here in the island, everything down here is beautiful!"

Serena smiled and kept walking. "Thanks, I'm glad you like it, we like to be here because it's safe, no one can harm us down here, well, except if we do it to ourselves." Her answer intrigued Tails.

"What happened?" Tails could notice Serena's intention to tell him something important.

"Before I became leader, Zike was in charge, he had been leading us for almost five years, we had everything, food, health, wisdom, and he was a wonderful husband." Serena cleaned a tear that formed almost instantly in the corner of her eye with her hand, then she continued talking. "One day, Akif, my husband's right hand, fought with him in the cave with the intention to become the new leader, it was an intense fight, blood and sweat painted the ground with each attack, they were unstoppable, until they fell down, the curers made everything they could to save their lives, but their wounds were very serious, and the next day after their burials, everyone chose me as their leader, and we have not faced such a situation again, but it continues to serve as a warning to the youngest of us."

"A warning?" Tails asked.

"The thirst for power brings death." Serena answered, then she showed Tails what would be his room. Two big plants were simulating a door, Serena opened them, the room had a hammock hanging from the rocky ceiling and a torch was serving as illumination. "I know it's not that much but I think it will…"

"It's perfect." Tails stopped Serena from finishing her modest sentence.

Serena just nodded and walked away to give Tails some privacy.

Tails laid down on the hammock almost immediately, he had been processing so much things in his mind throughout the day, so he just glanced at the torch's fire, he tried to concentrate on it's red tones, after remaining that way for a few minutes, he started to fell asleep, his breathing was slowing down, his senses began to fade away, the hammock's soft movement finished taking care of his worries, until peace reigned over his mind.


	5. Chapter 5: Affection

_Darkness, embraced by the jungle's mysterious atmosphere, the shape of a man eating corpses, and then, his horrible eyes looked at mine, then I could feel death, pain and suffering, just by seeing his shiny red pupils, then he approaches me and screams until my face gets shredded by his claws._

Tails woke up yelling, then he just glanced at the corners of his room, panting and hyperventilating by the enormous fear that he was feeling after that nightmare, he tried to calm down and got out of the hammock, then he heard a feminine voice, it seemed it was coming from behind the door made of plants. "Tails! It's me Serena, the dinner is ready!"

"Thanks, I'm coming!" Tails tried to hide the remnants of fear from his voice, when he could forget that nightmare, he came out of his room and saw a big table at the center of the cave, there was a lot of exotic food and the people was sitting there like a family.

Serena saw Tails from her wooden chair, she stood up and ran towards him, she took his hand to take him to the table quickly, so she ran to where the table was while still holding his hand, then she offered him a seat. "Choose what you want, everything here is fresh, and delicious of course, and sorry for bringing you here that fast." Serena laughed a little. "It's because everyone wants to thank you personally." Serena then saw an empty seat. "Hey who is…Tanya! Hurry up we are having dinner with our guest!"

A young cheetah came out from her room hurriedly to take a seat, as she was apologizing. "I'm sorry Serena, I was getting ready…"

"It's okay Tanya, just sit down at our guest's side, there is an empty chair." Serena pointed to a chair which was at Tails' right side.

"Okay." Tanya sat down, she felt something weird, but good, while being by Tails' side, something she had never felt in a long time.

Tails focused his gaze entirely on Tanya, he was talking to himself on his mind. "Oh my…she is, beautiful."

Meanwhile, four kids were playing hide and seek near to where the dinner was taking place, they were all males so they were only wearing loincloths, and other boy was trying to join them but they excluded him because of his disability. "You can't play with us, cripple!"

"That's…that's not my name…" The kid said with a broken voice.

"Who cares, you are a disadvantage, get out of here!" One of the kids exclaimed.

The excluded kid turned around, he tried not to cry but he couldn't stop it, and went to the dining table, where Tanya was sitting. The young boy hugged her firmly, and she began to stroke his head's fur, while trying to calm him down. "It's alright son, don't listen to them, I'm here and I'll never leave you, Akif, you are strong, be brave, you are not a mistake, you are a miracle."

Tails remembered that name, Akif, he realized he was the son of the one who fought to death with the previous leaderhe felt bad for him, so he placed his hand on his shoulder and tried to cheer him up too. "Hey buddy, listen to your mother, you are invaluable, unique, when I was your age, the other kids were rude to me too, not only that, they made my life miserable, they even made me hate myself, I just can't count how many horrible things they said or did to me, and everything because of my tails, but then, the friends came along, I had finally found someone who understood me, who supported me, and he even made me laugh about myself, I told him my name was Miles, but he called me Tails anyway, not to offend me, but to make me accept myself, my point is, you are perfect the way you are, it's only that some people can't or don't want to see it, trust me, you are not alone, because now you have a friend." Tails held out his hand. "Friends?"

Akif cleaned a tear from his cheek. "Friends." They shook hands, and Akif took a seat.

Tanya looked at Tails with gratefulness. "Thank you."

"It's nothing, he seems to be a nice kid, I don't want anyone to suffer the same things I suffered." Tails drank from his glass.

"Actually, I think your tails are…cute." Tanya chuckled.

Tails coughed and spit a little bit of water on the table. "Oh…" He was still coughing. "Well, thanks." He wanted to say her a compliment too. "And you have, uhm, nice spots." Tails felt that it sounded a little awkward.

Tanya laughed. "Thanks, I don't think my spots are so different from the other's."

"Well they are." Tails said with a smile, then he just kept looking directly at her eyes, Tanya was also lost on his gaze, then that moment was interrupted by Serena, who was clapping to get everyone's attention.

"Listen! This will take a minute, I want you to welcome our special guest, who will save us from a major threat, not only he will save our community, the entire island is at risk too, it's a shame our other guest isn't here right now so we could also express our gratitude with him, so I'm just asking you to stand up and give Tails a huge applause."

All of the cheetahs stood up and started clapping intensely, while screaming his name repeatedly.

After that moment, everybody sat down and continued eating.

"Now you are popular." Tanya said while grabbing some food from a big plate at the center of the table.

Tails was thinking why Miles wasn't having dinner with them, but he could hear what Tanya said, so he answered quickly. "Yes, yeah I, it's uhm, I just want to help."

"Whats wrong?" Tanya could see that Tails was distracted.

"Nothing, I'm just tired, that's all." But he was still thinking about Miles.

It was midnight already, Miles was walking crouched in the jungle rubbing his hands over the ground like if he was looking for something, then he stopped moving, with his hands still placed on the ground, which began to shake, then it got transparent like glass and a great blue glow suddenly came from it, and Miles smiled while looking at what he have found. "Finally."


	6. Chapter 6: Love

After the dinner, Tanya took Tails outside, to a place that was a few minutes from the cave, it was a big pool with a huge waterfall, when they arrived there, they sat down on the waterfall's cliff. "What do you think, hero?" Tanya took Tails' hand.

Tails was nearly hypnotized by the beauty of the landscape. "All this time living on the island, and I've never had the chance to see it's beauty, I never realized I was living in a paradise, because my fear was not letting me to discover more, I was so busy working on weapons and updates for the Tornado in case they would have come back, all this time, wasted."

Tanya clenched his hand more firmly, then she made him to look at her by putting her hand on his chin, so she could move his head softly. "You are still young, you have more things to see and more things to learn, you are almost there, we just need to stop the menace that Miles is trying to protect us from."

"I know, but, I'm just very angry, not with them but with myself."

"Them?" Tanya was intrigued, curious to know to whom Tails was referring to.

Tails took a deep breath, then he sighed. "The ones who killed my friends ten years ago, I was so focused on trying to be ready for a future attack, that I wasted ten years of my life that I could've used to, forget, and continue living and meeting new people."

"You were just trying to survive, you can't hate yourself for that, every day is a new battle, and I promise you that soon, the war will be won, and you will feel enough peace to start over." Tanya gave Tails a kiss on the cheek before hugging him.

"How do you know that?" Tails said when his chin was over her shoulder.

"Because I have faith, I have faith in you, Tails, you've brought hope to our community, to Akif, to me, and I'm not talking about your help, there is something in you that makes everyone to cheer up and feel better, I met you three hours ago, and…I'm feeling whole for the first time in years." She broke the hug but kept looking at him.

"I…don't know what to say…thank you, I have been feeling the same way since you sat at my side on dinner, and I don't want that feeling to disappear." Tails smiled a little bit, but he was still worried by something, and Tanya could see that.

"Is there another thing you want to talk about?"

Tails nodded while looking at the waterfall. "Yes, I had a nightmare when I took a rest on my room, I never have nightmares, and this one was very, vivid, it was something like this, there was darkness, embraced by the jungle's mysterious atmosphere, the shape of a man eating corpses, and then, his horrible eyes looked at mine, then I could feel death, pain and suffering, just by seeing his shiny red pupils, then he approaches me and screams until my face gets shredded by his claws."

Tanya tried to figure out what it could mean. "You said that you never have nightmares, right?"

"Yes, and something even stranger is that I remember this words, I mean, the way I've just told you my nightmare, there was an echoed voice similar to mine narrating it exactly with those same words while I was dreaming that."

Tanya was thinking stronger and trying to remember her lessons about dreaming, then her eyes widened and she immediately went from looking at the ground to looking at Tails. "You had a vision about you talking to me about your nightmare, that could mean only one thing, your dream is prophetic."

Tails tried to process that last sentence. "What? And it's something good or is it bad?"

Tanya started to look anguished. "Bad, definitely, that thing that attacked you in the dream, it represents evil, something horrible that will happen soon."

"Soon! Do you mean they are already on their way, the, threat?"

"I…don't know, usually this kind of dreams are warnings about things that are already with us." Tanya started to breathe deeply so she could calm down.

Tails also tried to calm down. "Well, we must solve this of course, but, this is such a great night and the water looks nice, I want to enjoy something for at least one night."

Tanya looked at him and took his hand again. "Yeah, you are right, we can leave this for tomorrow, now we are…" She pushed Tails suddenly and he screamed all the way from the cliff to the pool. Tanya laughed and then she jumped from the cliff and dived into the water.

Tails got his head quickly out of the water, as he was trembling because of it's temperature. "Are y…you…you cra…crazy! And th…the wa…water is…much colder than I…thought."

Tanya swam towards Tails. "Well you asked for it!" Then she made a small wave using her arm to splash-out more water at him.

Tails closed his eyes but the drops of water were already under his eyelids. Tanya was laughing very loud so when he could open his eyes he splashed out even more water at her, and because she was still laughing and unprepared for that, she swallowed a lot of that water and started coughing.

Tails grinned while enjoying his little revenge "Funny! Right?"

They both kept laughing and playing with the pool's water all night.


	7. Chapter 7: Suspicion

Tails woke up on his room, he got off the hammock and went outside to meet with Miles, who was sitting on a rock. "Good morning."

"Good morning, last night I found the exact location of the mineral, It's not too far, I believe we can build the extractor and the capsule before the sunset, if we move fast of course." Miles stood up from the rock.

"Allright, let's go to my cabin and get all my stuff."

They walked all the way to Tails' cabin. After they arrived to the cabin, they put all of the tools and materials that Tails had in boxes, then Tails took out a big hoverboard to transport them. "Are you sure that's everything we need?" Miles asked.

"Of course I'm sure, now help me with this." Tails started to push the hoverboard, then Miles did the same.

They arrived at the community's front door again. "Tails can you go and tell everybody to come here?, also, you will have to explain them how to build this things."

Tails nodded and went downstairs, then he saw everyone doing their daily activities. "Uhm good morning guys, I need you to listen, everything is ready outside for you to help us build this machines, first we are going to make a device to extract the mineral, then you will help me build a capsule to protect it so the bad guys won't take it, I'll give you more details outside."

Everyone stopped doing what they were doing and went to the stairs to get out, but Tanya took Tails by surprise. "Hello!" She yelled at his ear.

Tails gasped and gave a small jump. "Wha…! Oh good morning Tanya, please never do that again."

Tanya chuckled. "Okay I promise, so now It'll be just work, isn't it?"

"Well it's for a good cause, and don't worry, I will help you." Tails put his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you saying I can't do it for myself?" Tanya put a face of disapproval.

Tails got nervous. "Oh no, no no that's, I would never say that I mean, I will help you just if you want me to, you know, like…"

Tanya hugged Tails. "Calm down, I'm kidding, let's get to work, and if I need help, I'll just tell you."

Tails was confused but relieved at the same time. "Why such insistence on scaring me like that?"

Tanya broke the hug. "It's fun!"

Tails rolled his eyes. "Just…let's go already."

Everybody was sitting on the ground in front of Miles and Tails, prepared to listen to their instructions. Miles spoke first. "Today we are going to protect the Island once and for all, and not only that, we will save millions of lives and the future will be in peace, thanks to you, my brave fellows, my friend Tails, who is a younger version of me like I explained to you the other day, he will now teach you how to work together and build these devices."

Tails took a step to the front. "Well I, okay, first we will build the energy sources for both the extractor and the capsule, all the parts are on that hoverboard, I will draw a diagram here on this rock so you can understand on how to assemble it." Tails took a small rock from the ground and started drawing all the instructions on a much bigger rock, everybody seemed to understand Tail's drawings after he explained them. "As you can see it's not that complicated, so, if you need any help just ask me."

All of them began to work on the devices, then Miles went with Tails. "Bring all the children, they must help too."

Tails thought he was kidding. "Yeah, right."

"I'm not joking, Tails, we don't have enough time, we need all the hands we can get to do this."

Tails looked at him with disagreement. "Are you allright?"

"What do you mean?"

"You want the children to work!" Tails murmured forcefully. "That's not fair, we have enough people up here, let them play on the cave, besides, it's a tough job and it's really hot up here."

Miles kept a straight face. "This is no time for moral conflicts, Tails." He turned around. "Do it, now." Then he just walked away.

Tails was looking for Tanya, then he found her carrying some tools. "Tanya, we need to talk."

Tanya gave the tools to another cheetah. "Okay, what's the matter?"

"In the cave, it's important."

Tanya nodded and followed Tails to the cave.

There were kids playing and running inside the cave, and one of them saw Tails going downstairs. "Do you want help Mr. Tails?"

"No, but thanks, we are just fine, stay here." Tails disobeyed Miles' previous instruction. Then he sat down with Tanya on a log that served as bench. "Tanya, be careful with this guy Miles, I want you to keep an eye on him."

Tanya was confused. "But, aren't the two of you, like, the same person?"

Tails sighed. "Yes in theory but, I feel something is wrong, something I haven't seen yet, unless he really is who he says to be, it's possible that he is not telling us all of the truth."

"Why do you think so?" Tanya asked.

"He wanted me to make the kids work up there, even with all the risks and conditions, that's something I would never do." Tails looked thoughtful.

"Does this have something to do with your dream and what I've told you about it last night?" Tanya looked at him with worry.

Tails nodded. "Yes, we must be careful and keep an eye on Miles, if that's his real name, maybe I'm sounding paranoiac or is too soon to judge him right now, but, just in case."

Tanya nodded. "Okay, I will help you with this don't worry." She put her hand on his leg.

Tails smiled. "Thanks."


	8. Chapter 8: Pain

Miles and Tanya were walking in the jungle, through a path made of little gray rocks, just before the sunset. Tanya chuckled suddenly. "I hope this thing of spying on Miles isn't just a pretext to go out with me instead of inviting me, you know, formally."

"What? No! This is necessary, we need to discover his true intentions, and I trust you to keep this secret." Tails kept walking while watching the stars slowly appearing on the sky.

"Oh? Do you mean you don't like to be with me?" Tanya looked at him and raised an eyebrow, then she stopped walking for a second.

"No, no of course I like to be with you! But you asked me..." Tails sighed. "Why do you keep doing this?"

"Do what?" Tanya pretended to be confused.

"Trying to get me nervous and making me to feel sorry about everything I say to you! You may think it's funny, but it's not." Tails continued walking.

"It's very entertaining." Tanya said.

Tails sighed again. "If you say so, wait!" He stopped walking to hide behind a rock.

"What?" Tanya asked.

"There he is." Tails pointed at Miles, who was kneeling in front of a growing, blue light.

Tanya narrowed her eyes. "What in the world is he doing?"

Tails scratched his chin. "Nothing good, that's for sure, also, he has the devices we built for him, maybe he is already extracting the mineral."

Tanya noticed that the blue light had gone. "Uhm, Tails, I can no longer see him."

"Maybe the extraction is complete, he just needs to put it on the capsule and return to his time." Tails pressed a tiny button from his glasses to activate the night vision function.

Tanya smiled. "So the problem solved itself."

"What do you mean?" Tails said with confusion.

"He will return and won't be our problem anymore." Tanya said.

"But what if he lied? If he wants to do bad stuff with that mineral in the future who is going to stop him?" Tails explained.

Tanya nodded. "You are right, or maybe he wants to sell it."

"Now you see my point, we must be careful and…Akif?" Tails got suddenly surprised.

"What?!, Tails please tell me!" Tanya freaked out.

"Don't panic, but your son is walking towards him." Tails looked at her trying to hide his fear.

"No, no I must go after him!" Tanya tried to run but Tails stopped her by grabbing her forearm.

"Miles will discover us! Don't worry, he won't make him any harm."

"I don't care! Let me go!" Tanya punched Tails on the stomach, forcing him to let her go.

Laying on the ground, Tails yelled at her. "Tanya please! You don't know what is at risk!"

"My son's life!" She answered angrily while running and evading the palm trees.

Tails stood up and quickly returned his gaze to Miles and Akif, he saw the little kid approaching Miles slowly, who began to float and his hands where covered in electricity, Akif didn't look scared, he even threw a rock at Miles, but it didn't hurt him at all, he got mad and was still floating, his hands looked even more electrified, he then attacked Akif with a lightning that came from the palm of his hand, Akif fell to the ground, and Miles flew away.

Tanya arrived to where his son was, she took his head and stroked his forehead's fur, then she began to cry. "Rest, my little warrior, now you are free, I'll see you soon."

Tails went with them immediately. He walked slowly to try to calm down Tanya. "Tanya…I'm so…"

Tanya yelled at him. "It's your fault!"

Tails stepped back. "Sorry Tanya, I didn't…"

"I could've saved him! But you wanted to wait!" Tanya interrupted him again. "Get out of my sight, if you don't want me to hurt you."

Tails wanted to cry. "I…Sorry." He sat down on the ground and started crying. After a few moments, he stood up and cleaned the tears from his face, Tanya wasn't there anymore.


	9. Chapter 9: Sadness

Tails was on his way to his cabin, while the rainstorm and the wind were making his night even more painful, the darkness of the night, the soil rapidly turning into mud creating hopelessness. He arrived to his cabin and opened the door, he didn't bother to clean his shoes.

Tails sat on his wooden chair, thinking about what had happened, Tanya's face, Akif's dead body, Tails' life was once again flooded with sadness, he cried out desperately, the anger made him to stand up and punch all of the walls, then he fell down and layed on the ground, still crying. "I'm sorry." He whispered to himself.

After a few minutes, Tails went from looking at the wall to looking at the roof, then he kept talking to himself. "If I could describe my entire life with one word, it would be darkness, there where several moments of light and hope, were I had friends and family at my side, who brought joy and support everytime, those moments when everything seemed to be alright, moments I thought would last forever, a goldmine of great memories mixed with some hard times when everything seemed lost, even those hard times were better than this, because I didn't dealt with them alone, it was never like that, now I'm alone again, in these few days I really hoped for my life to be a happy one again, when I met Tanya, I felt that the great emptiness in my life was gone once and for all, I felt alive for the first time in ten years, but now she is gone forever, she will never forgive me for Akif's death, she is right after all, it's my fault, and this mad man Miles is still out there, plotting whatever evil plan he has in mind, but that doesn't matter, as Tanya said, the problem solved itself, If I can't get the present right, what makes me to think I will get the future right, it's a waste of time, G.U.N.? They can do whatever they want, I don't care anymore, no more worries, no more fear, I'll just try to live my life the better I can, alone, but this time without dumb dreams about things getting better, I've never considered myself a pessimistic person, it's just that, this time I will live with more reality, stop looking at the clouds Tails, look at the ground, the place where you are right now."

He got asleep a few moments later, the sound of the thunder took over his peaceful dream.

Tails was standing in front of an abyss, the lightning was covering the dark sky "Where am I?" Tails said.

"It was just about time." A mysterious voice came from nowhere.

"Time for what?" Tails asked.

"For you to give up, everyone has limits, even you." The voice's volume got higher.

"First, who are you? Second, I didn't give up, I only discovered that this was over." Tails looked around to try to find the voice's source, he found nothing.

"I'm a memory Tails, manifesting into your dream, isn't this familiar to you? All the times you relived your friend's deaths in your dreams, their screams, their blood…" The voice was interrupted by Tails.

"Shut up!" Tails yelled.

"Don't you remember me? Okay, I'll give you a clue, I was your greatest fear, until you and your friends managed to stop me and got rid of me forever."

The voice started to sound familiar, then Tails figured out from who the voice was. "Ro…Robotnik?"

"Bingo!" The storm got stronger.

"Okay, why are you telling me all this stuff?" Tails asked, with confusion.

"I'm just remembering you the day you almost decided to give up, the same day of my fall, you stood up and helped your friends to finally stop me, just imagine, what would have happened if you had decided to stay hidden, crying and doing nothing when the things got worse? And now, you will leave your duty just because of your broken heart. Pathetic."

Tails got mad at the voice. "It was different! Now I have nothing! No one! What do you want me to do!"

"Just improvise, then try to get things right, just the same thing you've done in the past." The voice lowered it's tone, then it muted.

"Oh it's just that easy! Wait! Where are you?!" Tails woke up all of a sudden, then he stood up carefully to look at the clock, he had been sleeping for only two minutes.

He was looking outside the window while recalling the dream, then he got an idea, so he spoke to himself. "Alright, this is risky, dangerous, even stupid, but that weird…Robotnik voice, whatever, has a point, maybe everything it's over with Tanya, but I will still protect her and the island until my last breath, like in the old times, I must protect the ones I care of, just one more time."


	10. Chapter 10: Hostility

Tails was in his garage disassembling the Tornado, taking apart its electronic components, trying to build something else. "Okay, the motherboard is ready, I just need something to give it power." Tails began to throw away a lot of garbage and old tools that were stacked on a corner, then he found the upper part of one of Robotnik's lethal androids.

"Perfect." Tails said. He took a screw driver and removed the cover from the robotic torso, he took the battery and also unscrewed it's right arm.

Tails spent nearly an hour soldering and programming his new, improvised invention. He attached the weapon to his right arm using a velcro strap, then he went outside to test it.

It was still raining, Tails pointed at a tree with his right arm, then he closed his fist and a powerful red ray came out from two metallic tubes that were over his knuckles, the ray destroyed the tree completely, leaving just smoke and ashes. "Lets fix this."

Akif's funeral had ended on the cheetahs cave, Tanya was still devastated, sitting on a rock that was outside of her room, Serena, her leader, sat down alongside her. "I'm so sorry, I know how are you feeling right now."

Tanya didn't look at her, her gaze was still lost on the sand that covered the ground. "Stupid, that's how I feel."

"Why?" Serena asked.

Tanya rested her head on her hands, covering her face with shame, still facing to the ground. "I believed his lies, now my son is dead."

"All of us did it, even Tails, where is he by the way?" Serena asked.

"Far away, I hope, far away from us, from me." Tanya started crying.

"Hey, it's okay, don't worry, what happened, tell me." Serena tried to calm down Tanya.

Tanya sighed. "The day we built those machines, Tails told me that he was worried about Miles behavior, then he asked me to help him spy on Miles, so, we went outside and saw Miles using the devices, then…" She stopped talking suddenly.

"Alright, It's hard to talk about this things, especially when we have just experienced them, just breathe." Serena said.

Tanya took a deep breath, then she kept talking. "He killed Akif."

"Who? Tails?" Serena asked with surprise.

"No, Miles, well, both of them basically." Tanya said.

Serena got confused. "What do you mean?"

"I could've saved my son, but Tails was very worried about getting caught, he wanted to stop me from trying to save him, but I punched him and ran towards them, but it was too late."

Serena sighed. "Okay, you are mad at him, that is normal, but, he was trying to protect us, to protect you."

"And what about Akif, did he also wanted to protect him?" Tanya asked angrily.

Serena stood up. "Tails made a mistake, all of us have taken wrong choices that often led to suffering, even if they were for the right reasons, I can't force you to forgive him, but I must tell you just one thing, do what your heart tells you to do, don't let your emotions to take control and transform you into something that you aren't." She turned around and walked away.

"Tanya." Tails had arrived to the cave.

Tanya looked at him, still with anger. "What have I told you?" She said with a broken voice.

"It's my fault Tanya, I know I won't fix this by just saying sorry, but we can still stop Miles." Tails said.

"We?" Tanya asked.

"Tanya please! I need your help, I can't do this alone!" Tails said.

After remaining silent for a moment, Tanya spoke. "What will we do."


	11. Chapter 11: Fellowship

Tails sat down next to Tanya. "I'm pretty sure Miles will come back for more of that mineral, he didn't finish extracting it, so when he comes back, we will ambush him and stop him."

"How?" Tanya asked.

Tails lifted his arm to show her his invention. "I made a weapon that I hope will be useful."

Tanya looked a little surprised. "And how will I help?"

"You will distract him, but don't worry, I will shoot him with this before he wants to hurt you." Tails answered.

"It may not work." Tanya said.

Tails sighed. "I know, but it's the best we can do, and if indeed doesn't work and we can't talk to each other again, I know this is absolutely not the best moment for me to say this but I must do it before it's too late."

Tanya stood up "Tails…"

"Wait." Tails did the same. "Thank you."

"For what?" Tanya said.

"For making me to feel alive once again, I just want you to know that." Tails walked towards the stairway, Tanya remained silent, then she followed him.

While walking upstairs, Tanya was wondering about Tails' words, then she spoke. "Thank you too."

"What have I done for you?" Tails asked intrigued.

"The same thing you say I did for you." Tanya said.

Tails sighed. "Don't worry Tanya, you don't have to say that stuff only because I did, it's fine if you hate me."

They had reached the entrance and went outside, where it was still raining by the storm then Tanya put her hand on Tails' shoulder to stop him. "Tails." He stopped walking. "I don't hate you."

After a few seconds, Tails turned around to look at her. "So…how are we? I am afraid of how things would turn between us." Tails asked.

"Time will tell." Tanya said before continuing walking. "Uhm, where are we going?"

"To my cabin, I assume that Miles is now charging himself with the rays." Tails said.

"Why do you think that?" Tanya asked.

"He looked weak after he used his…powers or whatever." Tails answered.

After a few minutes walking in the jungle, they arrived to Tails' cabin, then Tails opened the door of the garage. "We probably have a few more minutes before he comes back for the rest of the mineral."

Tanya was glancing all of the stuff Tails had on his garage. "You must have a better plan than just ambushing him."

"Of course, just think about this, if he gets weak after an attack…" Tails said.

"Then…we must force him to drain all of his energy first." Tanya concluded the phrase.

Tails nodded. "And that's why you are the distraction."

"Okay…wait? What do you mean?" Tanya got a little bit worried.

"You will make him to get weak after each attack he throws at you, then I will shot my red ray at him, then this will be over." Tails readjusted his weapon to his right arm.

"And why should I be the distraction?" Tanya asked.

Tails looked at her. "Because you are more agile than me, I would have no chance against him."

Tanya hesitated for a second, then she just nodded. "Fine."

"Okay, let's go." Tails exited from the garage, followed by Tanya. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I must do it." Tanya said

They arrived to the place where Miles was extracting the mineral before he disappeared, Tails was practicing his aim by moving his arm. "Tanya." She looked at him. "Ready?" Tanya nodded, then Tails hid behind the foliage.

A blue light appeared suddenly, surrounded by lightning, then Miles appeared from it. "Tails?"

Tails remained silent. "Don't answer Tails, stick to the plan." He thought.

"Show yourself! I fooled you, you lost." Miles was floating with lightning below him. "It's pathetic how you fell in my lies, did you really think I came from the future? I thought you were smarter!" Miles threw a ray to a palm tree, destroying it. "And obviously, I'm not you, I am so much better." He was looking for Tails between the vegetation.

Tanya was approaching Miles slowly, careful in every step she was taking, trying to not even breathe at all, and Tails was already aiming at Miles from under the foliage.

"That mineral, is called effektium, is the most powerful item in the planet, coveted by those whose power is greater than we could imagine, and whose names are still unknown, or at least that's what I learned from G.U.N.'s archives." Miles threw another ray and destroyed a palm tree that was exactly next to the one Tanya was hiding behind.

Tanya took a deep breath and exhaled to calm down, she did so repeatedly.

Tails was trying to remain silent, until he couldn't help it. "How did you knew about my friends?!"

Tanya sighed. "No, Tails…" She whispered to herself.

Miles laughed. "I infiltrated G.U.N.'s servers, and you and your friends were their targets, I guess all of you were an obstacle for them to obtain the effektium, they are different now, greed has corrupted them." Miles got surrounded by lots of lightning. "And…I saw everything."

"What do you mean?!" Tails asked with anger.

"I got here by hiding in G.U.N.'s robots, you know, I can travel through electricity, I had been here for more than ten years, yes Tails, I've been watching you since I got here, since your friends died, I heard their screams and saw their bodies fall to the ground, then I spent a whole decade getting wiser and stronger, waiting for the perfect moment." Miles answered.

"But…why me? Why disguising as me?" Tails stood up.

Miles moved forward. "Because, who could be more reliable than yourself? It was the only way you could help me, or would you trust a stranger who wants to extract some weird rock from your island?"

Tails didn't say nothing. He aimed at Miles with his fist and yelled. "Now!"

Tanya got out from where she was hiding and threw a big rock at Miles' neck. "You like that? Miles?"

"I...am…Lightmask!" Miles' face disappeared suddenly, he had revealed his real name. "I am not like you, I was made to destroy and be the most powerful being on the planet!" Lightmask tried to throw a ray to Tanya, but she dodged it by jumping and climbing to a palm tree.

"With that aim?" Tanya said jokingly.

"A shapeshifter." Tails thought.

Miles screamed. "That effektium is mine!" He threw another ray, he destroyed the palm tree, but Tanya landed next to Tails.

"It's your end, Tails!" Lightmask tried to throw another ray, but his energy was gone.

"No, it's yours." Tails aimed to the head and began to shot the red ray from his weapon, which was more powerful than Lightmask's.

Lightmask began to scream horribly while the ray was burning him. "You won't stop this! There are more like me!" He kept screaming until the light around him got much brighter.

"It will explode!" Tanya yelled.

"I know!, and again, thank you!" Tails kept destroying Lightmask with his ray.

Tanya took a few steps backwards, and spoke. "Thank you too.

Tails screamed before Lightmask exploded, Tanya covered her face with her arm to avoid the great amount of light to damage her eyes.

Darkness returned, Tanya could only see smoke, she walked through it, until she found Tails laying on the ground. She kneeled down and took Tails' hand. "Tails!" She screamed. "Tails!" Tanya began to cry while still holding his hand, until she felt a squeeze on her hand.

"Is…he gone?" Tails said.

Tanya smiled and chuckled by discovering that Tails was alive. "Yes."

Tails smiled back. "Good job, we are a good…" Tails complained of the pain he was feeling.

"Team." Tanya said.

Tails stroked her face with his other hand "See? What would I do without you?" He closed his eyes and lowered his arm.

Tanya carried Tails on her back, then she left the place.


	12. Chapter 12: Commitment

On a great afternoon where the sunset was painting the sea's horizon, the small waves were breaking into the sand and the breeze was stroking the palm trees, Tails and Tanya were sitting on the shore, looking at the sea. "Beautiful." Tails said.

Tanya yawned and stretched "There is nothing better."

"Don't you miss them? You know, your community?" Tails asked.

Tanya looked at him. "I am where I want to be."

Tails smiled. "I don't want to ruin the moment, but, do you remember what Miles, well, Lightmask said?"

"What exactly?" Tanya asked.

Tails sighed. "That there were more like him."

Tanya chuckled. "Tails, that was two months ago, he just wanted to scare you."

Tails nodded. "Yeah, maybe you are right."

"Maybe?" Tanya raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, sorry, you are totally right." Tails said.

"Now you are learning." Tanya laughed.

Suddenly, the alarm began to sound, alerting that an aircraft was approaching the island, Tails panicked. "No, no not again." He started to feel a strong pain on the stomach, because of the anxiety he was experiencing.

Tanya got closer to Tails and put her hand on his back to calm him down, she began to stroke it slowly. "Calm down, calm down, everything is alright, don't worry, it could be anyone."

Tails took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Okay."

A big aircraft arrived quickly in front of them, then it landed on the shore. A big gate opened and fell into the sand, then Tails felt a huge relief by seeing who exited from it. "Blaze!" He stood up and both of them hugged each other.

Blaze broke the hug. "It's great to see you again."

"Yeah sure, uhm, I don't want to sound rude, but, what are you doing here? It's been like, ages." Tails said.

Blaze sighed. "The thing is that, I need your help, from all of you, where's Sonic?"

"I'm sorry, but they are no longer with us." Tails answered.

"What?! What happened? Did you say, they?" Blaze was shocked and confused.

"G.U.N. killed them all, Sonic, Knuckles and Amy, they were looking for a weird mineral called…" Tails was interrupted.

"Effektium." Blaze said. "That's exactly why I need your help." She sighed and sat down on the sand for a moment. "I can't believe it, it's just, horrible."

Tanya then stood up and walked towards them. "So, you know about the effektium."

Blaze looked at Tails. "Who is your friend?"

"Oh I'm so sorry, she is Tanya, Tanya, Blaze the cat." Tails said.

"Nice to meet you Tanya." Blaze stood up and shook her hand.

"The pleasure is mine." Tanya said.

Blaze nodded. "Yes, I know about the effektium, a secret society called The Pillar is going after it by using their influences, it seems that G.U.N. was one of them."

"And why do they want it?" Tanya asked.

"We don't know yet, I managed to get some information from one of it's members, but he escaped." Blaze sighed. "I really need your help Tails."

Tails remained thoughtful until answering. "I really want to help you, but, we have a life here and I don't want to lose that."

"Tails!" Tanya scold him. "We will help you."

Blaze smiled. "Really?" She said with emotion.

"Can you wait a second?" Tails said to Blaze.

Blaze nodded and sat down again to look at the sea for a moment.

"Are you sure? We are very happy here and I don't want more problems." Tails murmured while talking with Tanya.

"Yes Tails! I'm completely sure, it's not about us, it's about everybody else, we have to stop this bad guys, and I will go with your friend, you stay if you want." Tanya said.

"I would never stay without you, Tanya." Tails sighed. "And you are right, it's our duty to help the world with this new menace." Tails took her hand. "I will go with you, to any part of the world, until the end."

Tanya looked at him with a smile. "Thanks."

They went with Blaze, and Tails spoke. "We are in."

Blaze stood up again and smiled at them. "Thank you, I really appreciate it, come on, my son Spark is waiting inside, he is a little, impatient."

"It's really been a while hasnt it?" Tails said.

Blaze chuckled. "But here we are again, making a team."

"We need to bring our stuff yet." Tanya said, while pointing to the cabin.

"Go ahead." Blaze entered to the aircraft.

While walking to the cabin with Tanya, Tails laughed a little. "You knew I wouldn't leave without my weapon."

Tanya sighed. "I hate that piece of junk."

"Hey, it will be useful." Tails said.

Tanya chuckled. "It needs some paint."

"Will you help me decorating it?" Tails asked jokingly.

"Your junk, your problem" Tanya answered.

"I had to try." Tails said.

After they kept all of their stuff on their backpacks, they entered the aircraft.

"We are ready." Tails said.

Blaze nodded from the pilots chair and activated the systems, the aircraft began to leave the ground slowly, then it left the island in a matter of seconds.

A/N: Well, thats all for now, I really hope you liked it, after I finish publishing my next story that will be about Blaze The Cat (it will be set before the events you have just read, like Rupture, another fanfic that Im writing about Shadow the Hedgehog) I will write another one, which will begin basically just after this ending, so stay tuned if you want to see what happens next, thank you very much for reading, I appreciate it. -Grant.


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